Ohio

Formed October 7, 1776 (3^rd county)

Ohio County (42,444), Wheeling (27,052)                

The tan brick and concrete Modern structure was constructed in 1960.  There as an 1876 courthouse before in Wheeling.  The county was created on October 7, 1776 from Augusta County Virginia as the 3^rd county.  It is named for the Ohio River.  Wheeling was named for a Native American term meaning “place of the skull.”  West Liberty was the county seat before Wheeling and had 1777 and 1779 courthouses.  There were 1798 and 1839 courthouses in Wheeling.  The courthouse is sited on 15^th Street at Chapline Street.  It features brick columns.  West Virginia State Highway 2 passes one block to the west.  Frederic H. Faris, Jr., provided the designs. 

Ohio County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Three Circuit Court Judges, Two Family Court Judges and Four Magistrate Court Judges serve Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties.  Ohio County is in the northern panhandle of the state.  Charleston, West Virginia is south and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is east of the county.  The county center is 7.9 miles East-Northeast of Wheeling nearer Eden.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Brooke County and Pennsylvania and Marshall County, and Ohio. 

The area of the county is 106 square miles.  It is 53 out of 55 in the state.  It ranks 12 out of 55 in population in the state.  It has a density of 400.4 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 55 in the state.  Ohio County has 75.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 70 crosses the county east to west from Pennsylvania to Ohio.  United States Highway 40 parallels Interstate Highway 70 from Pennsylvania to Ohio.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Wheeling is located on the southwestern border of the county and extends into Marshall County.  Wheeling is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 63.5% of the county population.  This county is in the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area.